Sensitized polygenic trait analysis

Genetic variation in many biological processes and evolutionary adaptations is caused by polygenes – genes that act in combination to affect a particular trait. Despite the recent identification of several polygenes, many remain to be found, suggesting that new experimental and analytical methods are needed to facilitate their discovery. Here we discuss sensitized polygenetic trait analysis, a method that has emerged recently for simplifying the genetic analysis of polygenic traits. The method uses a known single gene mutation in linkage testing crosses to ‘sensitize’ the analysis. By increasing the frequency of affected individuals in segregating populations, linkages are more readily detected. This method has considerable potential, especially given the increasing variety of mutations that can be used to sensitize the genetic analysis of polygenic traits.     

Effect of prey quantity and temperature on nest demography of social wasps

Abstract. 1. To determine the effect of prey quantity and temperature on nest demography of social wasps ( Polistes fuscatus ), field experiments were conducted, in which wasps were provided with a low quantity of caterpillars (approximately nest subsistence level) or high quantity (three times as much). In addition, in the third year, the nest boxes were modified to be relatively cool (white and insulated) or warm (black).
2. In 1997 and 1998, high-food nests had a high proportion of cells containing developing offspring, produced more offspring, and had disproportionately more female offspring compared with low-food nests.
3. In 1999, the cool and warm nest boxes exhibited a daily average difference of 1.3 °C and a maximum difference of 6.9 °C. The warm high-food nests produced more offspring than any other treatment. The cool high-food nests produced similar numbers of offspring as the cool low-food and warm low-food treatments.
4. As indicated by a surplus of uncapped cells, foundresses of low-food nests, which would have had the egg-laying potential to produce many offspring, apparently sacrificed eggs to provide a food supplement for the developing offspring. This pattern plus more time observed foraging suggests considerable expenditure of energy by foundresses, in response to the low supply of food.
5. Importantly, these results indicate that an interactive effect of prey quantity and temperature on offspring production occurred, which may reflect the different effects on developmental rate and growth rate at cool versus warm nest temperatures.     

Periodic breathing in the mouse.

The hypothesis was that unstable breathing might be triggered by a brief hypoxia challenge in C57BL/6J (B6) mice, which in contrast to A/J mice are known not to exhibit short-term potentiation; as a consequence, instability of ventilatory behavior could be inherited through genetic mechanisms. Recordings of ventilatory behavior by the plethsmography method were made when unanesthetized B6 or A/J animals were reoxygenated with 100% O(2) or air after exposure to 8% O(2) or 3% CO(2)-10% O(2) gas mixtures. Second, we examined the ventilatory behavior after termination of poikilocapnic hypoxia stimuli in recombinant inbred strains derived from B6 and A/J animals. Periodic breathing (PB) was defined as clustered breathing with either waxing and waning of ventilation or recurrent end-expiratory pauses (apnea) of > or = 2 average breath durations, each pattern being repeated with a cycle number > or = 3. With the abrupt return to room air from 8% O(2), 100% of the 10 B6 mice exhibited PB. Among them, five showed breathing oscillations with apnea, but none of the 10 A/J mice exhibited cyclic oscillations of breathing. When the animals were reoxygenated after 3% CO(2)-10% O(2) challenge, no PB was observed in A/J mice, whereas conditions still induced PB in B6 mice. (During 100% O(2) reoxygenation, all 10 B6 mice had PB with apnea.) Expression of PB occurred in some but not all recombinant mice and was not associated with the pattern of breathing at rest. We conclude that differences in expression of PB between these strains indicate that genetic influences strongly affect the stability of ventilation in the mouse.     

A Ca(2+)-dependent global conformational change in the 3D structure of phosphorylase kinase obtained from electron microscopy.

Phosphorylase kinase (PhK), a Ca(2+)-dependent regulatory enzyme of the glycogenolytic cascade in skeletal muscle, is a 1.3 MDa hexadecameric oligomer comprising four copies of four distinct subunits, termed alpha, beta, gamma, and delta, the last being endogenous calmodulin. The structures of both nonactivated and Ca(2+)-activated PhK were determined to elucidate Ca(2+)-induced structural changes associated with PhK's activation. Reconstructions of both conformers of the kinase, each including over 11,000 particles, yielded bridged, bilobal structures with resolutions estimated by Fourier shell correlation at 24 A using a 0.5 correlation cutoff, or at 18 A by the 3sigma (corrected for D(2) symmetry) threshold curve. Extensive Ca(2+)-induced structural changes were observed in regions encompassing both the lobes and bridges, consistent with changes in subunit interactions upon activation. The relative placement of the alpha, beta, gamma, and delta subunits in the nonactivated three-dimensional structure, relying upon previous two-dimensional localizations, is in agreement with the known effects of Ca(2+) on subunit conformations and interactions in the PhK complex.     

Genetic aspects of susceptibility to obesity and related dyslipidemias

Obesity has a multifactorial origin. However, although environmental variables undoubtedly play a role in the development of obesity, it is now clear that genetic variation is also involved in the determination of an individual's susceptibility to body fat accumulation. In addition, it is also widely accepted that obesity is not a single homogeneous phenotype. It is also heterogeneous regarding its causes and metabolic complications. The regional distribution of body fat appears to be an important correlate of the metabolic complications that have been related to obesity. Due to their higher accumulation of abdominal fat, men are generally more at risk for the metabolic complications of obesity than women whereas some obese women, with large gluteal-femoral adipose depots may have a cosmetic problem which may not necessarily require medical intervention. Several studies have been conducted to understand the mechanisms by which abdominal obesity is related to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. It appears that the increased risk of abdominal obesity is the result of complex hormonal and metabolic interactions. Studies in genetic epidemiology have shown that both total body fatness and the regional distribution of body fat have a significant genetic component. Standardized intervention studies using an identical twin design have shown that individuals that have the same genetic background tend to show similar changes in body fat and in plasma lipoprotein levels when exposed to standardized caloric excess or energy restriction. Finally, although abdominal obesity is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, not every abdominal obese subject will experience metabolic complications, suggesting that some obese individuals may be more susceptible than others. Variation in several genes relevant to lipid and lipoprotein metabolism may alter the relation of abdominal obesity to dyslipoproteinemias. Abdominal obesity should therefore be considered as a factor that exacerbates an individual's susceptibility to cardiovascular disease.     

Whole‐field macro‐ and micro‐deformation characteristic of unbound water‐loss in dentin hard tissue

High‐resolution deformation measurements in a functionally graded hard tissue such as human dentin are essential to understand the unbound water‐loss mediated changes and their role in its mechanical integrity. Yet a whole‐field, 3‐dimensional (3D) measurement and characterization of fully hydrated dentin in both macro‐ and micro‐scales remain to be a challenge. This study was conducted in 2 stages. In stage‐1, a stereo‐digital image correlation approach was utilized to determine the water‐loss and load‐induced 3D deformations of teeth in a sagittal section over consecutively acquired frames, from a fully hydrated state to nonhydrated conditions for a period up to 2 hours. The macroscale analysis revealed concentrated residual deformations at the dentin‐enamel‐junction and the apical regions of root in the direction perpendicular to the dentinal tubules. Significant difference in the localized deformation characteristics was observed between the inner and outer aspects of the root dentin. During quasi‐static loadings, further increase in the residual deformation was observed in the dentin. In stage‐2, dentin microstructural variations induced by dynamic water‐loss were assessed with environmental scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM), showing that the dynamic water‐loss induced distention of dentinal tubules with concave tubular edges, and concurrent contraction of intertubular dentin with convex profile. The findings from the current macro‐ and micro‐scale analysis provided insight on the free‐water‐loss induced regional deformations and ultrastructural changes in human dentin.      

Characterization of a cytokinesis defective (cyd1) mutant of Arabidopsis.

Although several mutations and genes affecting plant cytokinesis have been identified, mutant screens are not yet saturated and knowledge about gene function is still limited. A novel Arabidopsis mutation, cytokinesis defective1 (cyd1), was identified by partial or missing cell walls in stomata. Stomata with incomplete or no cytokinesis still differentiate and some contain swellings of the outer wall not found in the wild type. The incomplete walls are correctly placed opposite stomatal wall thickenings suggesting that the mutation interferes with the execution of cytokinesis rather than with the placement of the division site. Cytokinesis defects are also detectable in other cell types throughout the plant, defects which include cell wall protrusions, two or more nuclei in one cell, and reduced cell number. The extent of cytokinetic partitioning correlates with nuclear number in abnormal stomata. Many cyd1 epidermal cells, stomata and pollen are larger, and trichomes have more branches. cyd1 is partially lethal with poor seed set and some defective ovules, but many plants are fertile despite abnormalities in vegetative and reproductive development such as missing, reduced, fused or misshapen leaves and floral organs. cyd1 appears to be the only cytokinesis mutant described where defects are known to occur in both mature vegetative and reproductive organs. Thus, the CYD1 gene product appears to be necessary for the execution of cytokinesis throughout the shoot. The examination of stomata by microscopy may be a useful screen for the directed isolation of additional cytokinesis mutations that are not embryo or seedling lethal